Enhancing teaching and learning

Profiles of change in motivation for teaching in higher education at an American research university (Gunersel et al 2016)We know surprisingly little about lecturers’motivation towards teaching in higher education, which is a shame because it affects not only their own performance but also their students’. This study used the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (Kaplan et al, 2015); this suggests that teacher’s actions stem from the integration of their personal ontological and epistemological beliefs, perceived purpose and goals, self-perceptions and self-definitions, and action possibilities. They showed some change in these with a professional development (PD) programme for graduate students, but for me the most interesting aspect was how a PD programme could USE this model in its curriculum design, to explicitly develop role identities that are positive for teaching.

See also: Kaplan, A., J. K. Garner, and S. Semo. 2015. “Teacher Role-identity and Motivation as a Dynamic
System.” Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Educational Research
Association, Chicago, IL, April 16–20.